Children’s app developer Duck Duck Moose has launched a new app that aims to blend the creative features of apps like Instagram and Snapchat with the educational resources on YouTube.

WonderBox has been released as a free app for iOS devices, with Android to follow. The company is targeting parents as well as children in what it’s pitching as a safe space for families to create and share ideas.

“We’re trying to provide a way for kids to explore any topic they’re interested in with their families and friends, and use open-ended creativity tools to express themselves,” said co-founder Caroline Hu Flexer.

The app includes a catalogue of YouTube videos in categories such as science, geography and design, chosen by six teachers hired by Duck Duck Moose to curate WonderBox’s video content.

It also includes 120 creative challenges, from inventing a plant or designing a superhero to making seashells talk, taking shadow photos or creating a weather report, using templates and digital tools created by the developer.

Private messaging is also built in, but Hu Flexer said that each family’s account will be tied to a parent, who will be able to see what their children are sharing and who they are adding as friends within the app.

As children use the app, they earn virtual coins which they can spend on new tools. Duck Duck Moose is not selling additional coins as in-app purchases.

Diversity in children’s apps: ‘Gender depictions tend to be very stereotyped’

Read more

“It’s a completely free app. We have considered a subscription model, since the content will be updated regularly. But since the core of WonderBox is communication and being able to share with your friends and family, we wanted to make it as accessible as possible,” said Hu Flexer.

“In the longer term, we will look at premium content, and possibly advertising to parents, although we do not have any plans to advertise to kids.”

Duck Duck Moose is planning to launch a separate version of WonderBox for use in schools, with several of its previous apps, such as Moose Math and Pet Bingo, already used by teachers and their pupils.